Layer winding wire using an electric eye as a control

ABSTRACT

This apparatus winds wire on a reel in layers and controls the winding by the traverse movement of sheaves over which the wire passes on its way to the reel. A first guide sheave is traversed mechanically but its position is controled by a proximity switch. After passing over the mechanically traversed guide sheave, the wire travels around a free floating guide sheave, and then around the reel ahead of the layer of wire that is being wrapped. The wire or cable then travels back to a second free floating sheave that moves according to the winding of the wire of each layer on the reel. The shift of this second free floating sheave controls the mechanical traverse in accordance with the movement of a light beam which is responsive to the movement of the second free floating sheave.

Johnson June 4, 1974 LAYER WINDING WIRE USING AN ELECTRIC EYE AS ACONTROL Inventor: James C. Johnson, St. Louis, Mo.

Assignee: General Cable Corporation,

Greenwich, Conn.

Filed: Sept. 1-8, 1972 Appl. No.: 290,248

US. Cl. 242/158 R, 242/25 R, 242/157.l, 242/l58.4 R

Int. Cl .J. .[B65h 54/28 Field of Search 242/25 R, 25 A, 158 R,242/158.2, 158.4 R, 158.4 A, 157.1, 7.14, 7.15, 7.16

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,845,229 7/1958 Bliss 242/25 RPrimary ExaminerStanley N. Gilreath 5 7 ABSTRACT This apparatus windswire on a reel in layers and controls the winding by the traversemovement of sheaves over which the wire passes on its way to the reel. Afirst guide sheave is traversed mechanically but its position iscontroled by a proximity switch. After passing over the mechanicallytraversed guide sheave, the wire travels around a free floating guidesheave, and then around the reel ahead of the layer of wire that isbeing wrapped. The wire or cable then travels back to a second freefloating sheave that moves according to the winding of the wire of eachlayer on the reel. The shift of this second free floating sheavecontrols the mechanical traverse in accordance with the movement of alight beam which is responsive to the movement of the second freefloating sheave.

13 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEU H 4mm 3814.348

SHEET 2 OF 2 w FIG. 5; 22 FIG. 6.

: 0a. U IO 0000 o FIG. 4. 44 1o 94 SPEED CONTROL -'O I,

FORIMOTOR 34 l (FG I FIG. IO

LAYER WINDING WIRE USING AN ELECTRIC EYE AS A CONTROL BACKGROUND ANDSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to wind wire,particularly wire in sizes 10 through 15, on a reel with the wire moretightly wound than has been practical with prior art respoolingapparatus. A conventional 250 pound reel can hold approximately 300pounds of wire when layer wound.

On most respooling apparatus the relationship between the rotation ofthe reel and the location of the traverse is predetermined. That is, thetraverse guides the wire line on to the reel at a given rate. It isdifficult and sometimes impossible to control this rate so as to get aclosely wound spool.

This invention holds the wire against the preceding convolution on thereel and controls a mechanical traverse in accordance with the windingof the wire. The movement of a free floating sheave around which thewire passes on its way to the spool controls the speed of a motor whichoperates mechanical traversing mechanism. In the preferred construction,the control uses a beam of light which is reflected from the freefloating sheave to a light responsive element which changes the speed ofthe motor to compensate for passage of the free floating sheave out ofthe beam'of light.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear asthe description proceeds.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in whichlike reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view showing apparatus for respoolingwire in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric diagrammatic view of the apparatus shown in FIGS.1 and 2;

FIG. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged views of the reel and with the wire shownwinding on the reel as the respooling progresses, the size of the wirebeing greatly exaggerated for clearer illustration;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged top plan view of the mechanical traversingmechanism shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 8-8 ofFIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the operationof the motor speed control with respect to the free floating sheaveshown in FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary view showing the rack and pinionmechanism for traversing the guide sheave shown in the other FIGS.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, awire or cable 10 comes from a wire supply station 12 which includes alarge reel 14 of wire supported from an axle l6 and from which the wireis supplied to respooling apparatus by payoff mechanism which controlsthe tension of the wire. Such payoff mechanism is well understood in theart and no illustration of it is necessary for a complete understandingof this invention. The reel 14 and the apparatus associated with it ismerely representative of a wire supply source from which wire is fed tothe respooling apparatus 20.

The respooling apparatus 20 wraps wire on a spool or reel 22 supportedby an axle 24 and rotated about the axis of the axle 24, this axis beingindicated by the ref erence character 26.

The travel of the wire 10 to the reel 22 is best shown in FIG. 3. Forclearer illustration, the direction of travel and the various guides arelocated in reverse positions to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The wire'10 comes first to a guide sheave 30 which is supported by a bar 32movable longitudinally in a direction parallel to the axis 26 of thereel 22. This bar 32 slides in bearings and is moved back and forththrough a stroke to traverse the guide sheave 30 back and forth at arate which is dependent upon the rate at which the wire 10 wraps on thereel 22.

Motion is imparted to the bar 32 by a motor 34, preferably an electricmotor, which drives a pinion 36 that meshes with a rack 38 on the topsurface of the bar 32. This rack 38 and the bearings for the bar 32 willbe de scribed in connection with FIGS. 8 and 10.

After passing across the guide sheave 30, the wire 10 passes around afirst free floating sheave 40 which rotates about an axle 42 along whichthe sheave 40 is free to slide with free floating movement. The angularextent of the sheave 40 about which the wire 10 passes depends upon thedirection from which the wire 10 is fed to the respooling apparatus, butit must be substantial in order to obtain free floating movement of thesheave 40 and it is greater than and usually somewhat less than I Beyondthe first free floating sheave 40, the wire 10 passes around the drum 44of the reel 22. This passage of the wire around the drum 44substantially reverses the direction of travel of the wire 10, asindicated by the arrows located along the course of the wire in FIG. 3.The wire 10 then passes around a second free floating sheave 46 which isfree to float on an axle 48.

After passing around the second sheave 46, the wire 10 travels back tothe drum 44 and winds on the drum which is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3by a motor 50.

The sheaves 30, 40 and 46 are shifted out of their actual alignment inFIGS. 1 and 3 in order to illustrate better the path of the wire 10 withrespect to the different sheaves.

FIG. 4 shows the way in which the wire 10 is wound on the reel 22 as thewire is traversed to the left. The free floating sheaves 40 and 46 areshown in dotted lines in FIG. 4 and closer to the drum 44 than in theother views. It will be apparent that the wire 10 which comes from thesheave 46 is pressed against the immediately preceding convolution onthe drum 44 by the wire from the sheave 40. By thus holding the wireagainst the preceding convolution as it wraps on the drum, a tighterwrap is obtained.

When the layer of wire is completed, the wire from the sheave 40 whichreached the left hand flange of the drum 44 ahead of the wire from thesheave 46 is lifted to the next layer above as indicated by thereference character 10a. This operation will be better understood byreferring again to FIG. 3.

Since the wire from the sheave 46 comes to the drum 44 from a lowerelevation than does the wire from the sheave 40, the wire from sheave 46will wind under the wire from the sheave 40 when the latter reaches theflange of the reel and cannot move to the left any further.

With the winding in the state shown in FIG. 5, the wire from the secondsheave 46 cannot wind any further to the left because of the left handflange of the reel and continued rotation of the reel will, therefore,

cause the wire from the reel 46 to wrap over the last convolution of thefirst layer wire and push the wire from the sheave 40 to the right asshown in FIG. 6. The winding then continues with the wire applied to thefirst layer as a second layer and with the traverse toward the right inFIG. 6. When the second layer is completed, contact with the right handflange causes the wire from the first sheave 40 to be again lifted tothe level of the next layer by the wire from the second sheave 46 and athird layer is wound in a manner similar to the first layer shown inFIG. 4.

The mechanism for traversing the guide sheave 30 includes a motor 34(shown in FIG. 1) which drives the pinion 36 through reduction gearing54. The pinion 36 meshes with the rack 38 on the top of the bar 32, asis best shown in FIG. 10. The motor that drives the rack is reversibleso that the rack can move alternately in opposite directions to traversethe guide sheave 30 back and forth across the face of the drum. Thebearings for the bar 32 consist of rollers 58 which extend into recesses60 in opposite sides of the bar 32, as shown in FIG. 8. The rollers 58are supported by axles 62 which extend through brackets 64 that projectdownwardly and connect with a frame 70 of the respooling apparatus.

The mechanism for reversing the direction of rotation of the motor so asto change the direction of traverse of the guide sheave 30 is shown inFIG. 7. There are two limit switches 72 and 73 connected to the fixedframe 70; and each of these switches 72 and 73 is on fixed frame 70; andeach of these switches 72 and 73 has an operating lever 74. A bracket 76is connected to the bar 32 and moves as a unit with the bar. A shaft 78is rigidly attached to the end of the bracket 76 remote from the bar 32.This shaft 78 has threaded portions on which there are nuts 80 whichstrike the operating levers 74 ofthe limit switches 72 and 73 when thebar 32 reaches the end of its stroke. The nuts 80 can be adjusted alongthe threads of theshaft 78 to reverse the motor and the direction ofmovement of the bar 32 sooner or later depending upon the direction ofadjustment of the nuts 80. Thus the stroke of the bar 32 can be changedto accommodate the width of the reel on which the wire is to be wound.No wiring diagram of the switches 72 and 73 is shown in the drawingsince the use of limit switches for reversing electric motors is wellknown in the art and no illustration is necessary for a completeunderstanding of this invention. The switches 72 and 73, their operatinglevers 74, the actuating nuts 80 on the shaft 78, and the bracket 76constitute switch gear by which the bar 32 and rack 38 reverse the motor34 at opposite ends of the stroke of the bar 32 and rack 38.

At the end of the bar 32 near the guide sheave 30, there is a bracket 84which carries a proximity switch 86. This proximity switch 86 is showndiagrammatically in FIG. 9. It includes a lamp 90 which projects a beam92 of light against a reflecting surface 94 on the circumference of thefree floating sheave 46. This light is reflected back to a lightresponsive cell 96 in the circuit of a speed control 98 which regulatesthe speed of the motor 34 in accordance with the light reflected fromthe surface 94 on the free floating sheave 46.

This control can be operated in a number of ways but in the illustratedconstruction, the motor for traversing the bar 32 and the guide sheave30 and proximity switch 86 is adjusted to run a little slower than therate at which the wire winds across the face of the drum 44 when theproximity switch 86 does not receive light reflected from the secondsheave 46. The reversing switches for the traverse motor 34 are adjustedso that the traverse motor reverses at about the time that the firstwire from the sheave 40 reaches the flange at each end of the reel onwhich the wire is wound. While the winding is being completed andthe'wire from the first sheave 40 is being pushed out and then over tothe other side of the wire winding on the reel, the traverse bar 36 ismoving in a reverse direction. As the wire starts winding for the nextlayer on the reel, the second sheave 46 starts floating in the directionin which the wire is winding and catches up with the proximity switch 86so that the reflecting surface 94 of the free floating sheave 46 movesinto position to reflect the light beam 92 (FIG. 9) to the lightresponsive cell 96. This causes the traverse motor to speed up so thatthe traverse of the proximity switch gets somewhat ahead of the sheave46 and the actual winding of the wire on the reel and this movementcarries the proximity switch 86 ahead of the sheave 46 so that the lightresponsive cell 96 is out of the beam of light which is no longerstriking the reflective surface 94.

The traverse bar 32 then moves more slowly as the result of the slowing'down of the motor 34 and the slower traverse continues until the freefloating sheave 46 catches up and the reflecting surface 94 is again inposition to reflect the light beam 92 to the light responsive cell 96.In this way the speed control for the mechanical traversing of the guidesheave 30 (FIG. 3) is responsive to the difference between itstraversing movement and the movement of the free floatingsheave 46.Since the traversing movement of the free floating sheave corresponds tothe winding of the wire on the reel 22, the speedcontrol operates tobring the guide sheave 30 and the proximity switch 86 to a transverselocation correspondingto the actual winding of the wire on the reel 22.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made and some featuresof the invention can beused in different combinations without departingfrom the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for winding cable in layers upon a cable reel including incombination a support for a cable reel, said support having an axis,means for rotating a reel, carried on said support, about the axis ofsaid support, a guide for a cable which is supplied to the apparatus,mechanism including a motor for traversing the guide, a sheave for thecable to run about on its way to a reel on said support. means ofsupporting the sheave for free floating movement parallel to the axis ofthe sup port in response to winding of successive convolutions of thecable on the reel on said support, and a speed control for the motorresponsive to differences in the position of the guide with respect tothe free floating sheave caused by differences in the rate of traversingmovement of the guide and sheave to change the motor speed to restorethe guide and sheave to a predetermined spatial relationship.

2. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by said mechanismfor traversing the guide being reversible, and control means thatreverse the direction of traverse of said mechanism each time the guidereaches a limit of movement corresponding to the completion of thewinding of a layer of cable on the reel toward both the right and lefthand sides of the reel.

3. The apparatus described in claim 2 characterized by the control meansbeing limit switches that reverse the direction of movement of thetraversing mechanism at opposite ends of a predetermined stroke thereof.

4. The apparatus described in claim 3 characterized by the speed controlincluding means for supplying a light beam from a surface that moveswith the sheave parallel to the axis of the reel.

5. The apparatus described in claim 3 characterized by the speed controlincluding a source of light carried by the traversing mechanism intoposition to direct a beam of light to a reflecting surface that reflectssaid light beam and that moves with the sheave parallel to the axis ofthe reel support, a light-responsive circuit in position to receive thelight beam from said reflecting surface whereby the reflected light beamis cut off by movement of the reflecting surface out of the beam oflight from said source.

6. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the cable, afterpassing around the sheave, advancing to the reel and forming the nextconvolution in the wrapping of the cable upon the reel, the guide beingin position to hold the cable to a course of travel that it urges thecable advancing from the sheave to lay against the previous convolutionas the cable wraps on the reel.

7. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the cable passingfrom the guide to the reel and part way around the circumference of thereel and then from the reel to the sheave, said sheave being in positionto reverse the direction of travel of the cable back to the reel andinto contact with the reel between the portion of the cable passingaround the reel from the guide and the last applied convolution of thecable presently wrapped on the reel, the portion of the cable passingaround the reel from the guide holding the portion coming to the reelfrom the sheave against said last convolution as the cable from thesheave wraps on the reel to form the next convolution of a layer ofcable.

8. The apparatus described in claim 7 characterized by there being twosheaves and means supporting both of the sheaves for free floatingmovement parallel to the axis of. the support, the sheaves including afirst sheave around which the cable passes on its travel from said guideto the first passage of the cable around a part of the circumference ofthe reel, and the second sheave being the one about which the travel ofthe cable from the reel is reversed back to the reel.

9. The apparatus described in claim 8 characterized by the first sheavebeing of larger diameter than the second sheave and being spaced furtherthan the second sheave from the axis of the reel, and the portions ofthe cable traveling toward and from the first sheave being more widelyspaced than the portions of the cable traveling toward and from thesecond sheave and being beyond both sides of the space bounded by theportions of cable traveling toward, from and around the second sheave inthe plane of said portions of cable traveling toward and from and aroundthe second sheave, the cable traveling toward the first sheave comingfrom a direction such that the cable travels around more than of thecircumference of the first sheave.

10. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the mechanismfor traversing the guide being a rack, hearings in which the rack haslongitudinal movement generally parallel to the axis of the support, apinion driven by the motor and meshing with the rack, the motor beingreversible to traverse the rack in opposite directions, a fixed frameadjacent to the rack, switch gear including reversing switch elementsand switch operating elements, some of the switch and operating elementsbeing moved by the rack and other of said switch and operating elementsbeing fixed with respect to the frame, and the operating elements beingin positions to operate the switch elements at opposite ends of a strokeof the rack to reverse the motor, some of the switch gear elements beingadjustable in the direction of movement of the rack to change the lengthof stroke of the rack.

11. The apparatus described in claim 10 characterized by the speedcontrol being also carried by the rack and the motor speed beingnormally a speed that advances the rack at a speed different from thatat which the wrap of the wire advances across the face of the reel, andthe speed control including a source of light in position to direct abeam of light to a reflecting surface that moves with the sheaveparallel to the axis of the support, a light responsive circuit inposition to receive the beam of light when reflected by said reflectingsurface, the light responsive circuit being responsive to change oflight caused by movement of the reflecting surface out of the beam oflight.

12. The apparatus described in claim 8 characterized by the sheavesbeing in positions with respect to one another to cause the run of thecable from the second free floating sheave to contact with the reel atan angular location on the drum that is nearer to the sheave than is theangular location at which the run of cable from the first free floatingsheave contacts with the cable.

13. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the mechanismfor traversing the guide operating at a different speed from the rate atwhich the cable winds across the width of'the reel, and means that aremoved transversely by the free floating sheave for temporarilyactivating the speed control to change the speed of the mechanism fortransversing the guide.

1. Apparatus for winding cable in layers upon a cable reel including in combination a support for a cable reel, said support having an axis, means for rotating a reel, carried on said support, about the axis of said support, a guide for a cable which is supplied to the apparatus, mechanism including a motor for traversing the guide, a sheave for the cable to run about on its way to a reel on said support, means of supporting the sheave for free floating movement parallel to the axis of the support in response to winding of successive convolutions of the cable on the reel on said support, and a speed control for the motor responsive to differences in the position of the guide with respect to the free floating sheave caused by differences in the rate of traversing movement of the guide and sheave to change the motor speed to restore the guide and sheave to a predetermined spatial relationship.
 2. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by said mechanism for traversing the guide being reversible, and control means that reverse the direction of traverse of said mechanism each time the guide reaches a limit of movement corresponding to the completion of the winding of a layer of cable on the reel toward both the right and left hand sides of the reel.
 3. The apparatus described in claim 2 characterized by the control means being limit switches that reverse the direction of movement of the traversing mechanism at opposite ends of a predetermined stroke thereof.
 4. The apparatus described in claim 3 characterized by the speed control including means for supplying a light beam from a surface that moves with the sheave parallel to the axis of the reel.
 5. The apparatus described in claim 3 characterized by the speed control including a source of light carried by the traversing mechanism into position to direct a beam of light to a reflecting surface that reflects said light beam and that moves with the sheave parallel to the axis of the reel support, a light-responsive circuit in position to receive the light beam from said reflecting surface whereby the reflected light beam is cut off by movemeNt of the reflecting surface out of the beam of light from said source.
 6. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the cable, after passing around the sheave, advancing to the reel and forming the next convolution in the wrapping of the cable upon the reel, the guide being in position to hold the cable to a course of travel that it urges the cable advancing from the sheave to lay against the previous convolution as the cable wraps on the reel.
 7. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the cable passing from the guide to the reel and part way around the circumference of the reel and then from the reel to the sheave, said sheave being in position to reverse the direction of travel of the cable back to the reel and into contact with the reel between the portion of the cable passing around the reel from the guide and the last applied convolution of the cable presently wrapped on the reel, the portion of the cable passing around the reel from the guide holding the portion coming to the reel from the sheave against said last convolution as the cable from the sheave wraps on the reel to form the next convolution of a layer of cable.
 8. The apparatus described in claim 7 characterized by there being two sheaves and means supporting both of the sheaves for free floating movement parallel to the axis of the support, the sheaves including a first sheave around which the cable passes on its travel from said guide to the first passage of the cable around a part of the circumference of the reel, and the second sheave being the one about which the travel of the cable from the reel is reversed back to the reel.
 9. The apparatus described in claim 8 characterized by the first sheave being of larger diameter than the second sheave and being spaced further than the second sheave from the axis of the reel, and the portions of the cable traveling toward and from the first sheave being more widely spaced than the portions of the cable traveling toward and from the second sheave and being beyond both sides of the space bounded by the portions of cable traveling toward, from and around the second sheave in the plane of said portions of cable traveling toward and from and around the second sheave, the cable traveling toward the first sheave coming from a direction such that the cable travels around more than 90* of the circumference of the first sheave.
 10. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the mechanism for traversing the guide being a rack, bearings in which the rack has longitudinal movement generally parallel to the axis of the support, a pinion driven by the motor and meshing with the rack, the motor being reversible to traverse the rack in opposite directions, a fixed frame adjacent to the rack, switch gear including reversing switch elements and switch operating elements, some of the switch and operating elements being moved by the rack and other of said switch and operating elements being fixed with respect to the frame, and the operating elements being in positions to operate the switch elements at opposite ends of a stroke of the rack to reverse the motor, some of the switch gear elements being adjustable in the direction of movement of the rack to change the length of stroke of the rack.
 11. The apparatus described in claim 10 characterized by the speed control being also carried by the rack and the motor speed being normally a speed that advances the rack at a speed different from that at which the wrap of the wire advances across the face of the reel, and the speed control including a source of light in position to direct a beam of light to a reflecting surface that moves with the sheave parallel to the axis of the support, a light responsive circuit in position to receive the beam of light when reflected by said reflecting surface, the light responsive circuit being responsive to change of light caused by movement of the reflecting surface out of the beam of light.
 12. The apparatus described in claim 8 characteRized by the sheaves being in positions with respect to one another to cause the run of the cable from the second free floating sheave to contact with the reel at an angular location on the drum that is nearer to the sheave than is the angular location at which the run of cable from the first free floating sheave contacts with the cable.
 13. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the mechanism for traversing the guide operating at a different speed from the rate at which the cable winds across the width of the reel, and means that are moved transversely by the free floating sheave for temporarily activating the speed control to change the speed of the mechanism for transversing the guide. 